Thai Red Curry – everything we know and love about Thai food! Big, bold Thai flavours, beautifully fragrant, the creamy red curry sauce is so good you can put anything in it and it will be amazing!
Make the easy 30 minute red curry recipe using my trick to pimp up store bought curry paste. Or go all out and make a Thai Red Curry Paste from scratch! Complete your Thai banquet with Thai Satay Skewers or Thai Fish Cakes to start.
Thai Red Curry recipe
We’d all love to be able to have a Thai Red Curry any night of the week made with homemade red curry paste. Freshly made, like the best Thai restaurants do every day. But it’s simply not viable.
So today, I’m sharing a recipe for how to make Thai Red Curry two ways:
30 Minute quick version using curry paste in a jar – sharing my secret for how to make an AMAZING curry using curry paste in a jar!
From scratch, using a homemade red curry paste
The BEST Thai Red Curry Paste – Maesri
The best Thai Red Curry Paste by a long shot is a brand called Maesri. This is also the brand I use for Thai Green Curry. Other brands tend to have less authentic flavour and are (usually) too sweet.
Sold in small cans for around $1.30 (it’s the cheapest!), it’s available in large grocery stores (Coles, Woolies, Harris), Asian grocery stores and here is the cheapest one on Amazon US.
Don’t worry if you can’t find it. This recipe is still great even with mainstream curry pastes.
How to make jar curry paste better
Store bought curry paste in a jar lacks the freshness of freshly made curry paste. So if you just dump it into coconut milk, you’re going to be sorely disappointing.
So here is how to make curry paste in a jar taste way (way, way!) better:
Sauté the paste in oil with garlic, ginger and fresh lemongrass or lemongrass paste
Adding the fresh aromatics does wonders for improving the flavour!
What does a Thai Red Curry Taste like??
Thai Red Curry, like most Asian curries, has a great depth of flavour. The sauce flavour is complex, it has many layers from all the ingredients in the paste that is then simmered with broth and coconut milk. It’s sweet and savoury, and it is quite rich.
The use of shrimp paste and fish sauce in the curry paste (jar or homemade) provides the saltiness as well as the umami *. However, this red curry recipe does not have a strong fishy or fermented shrimp flavour like some “hardcore” Thai restaurants. Most non-Thai nationals find those versions too fishy for their palette.
While one may assume Thai Red Curry is fiery hot, if from the colour alone, in actual fact it is not! It is actually quite mild, and generally most restaurants tend to stick with the mild level of spiciness though you will find some restaurants that dial up the heat considerably.
* Food-nerd word for savouriness, now officially considered to be the 5th taste in food along with sweet, salt, bitter and sour.
We love Thai Red Curry for the flavour, the creamy sauce, and how can one not love the colour!!
Complete your Thai meal with a starter of Thai Fish Cakes or Satay Skewers with Peanut Sauce, and a fresh Asian Slaw on the side. And while you can totally serve the red curry with plain steamed Jasmine rice, you could take it to the next level with Thai Fried Rice or Coconut Rice! – Nagi x
PS If you’re wondering if the sauce is supposed to look sort of split – yes it is. The oil is actually supposed to separate. I’ve included some general commentary in the recipe notes, for those that are interested. 🙂
Thai red curry
Watch how to make it
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Thai Red Curry with Chicken
Ingredients
Red Curry Paste – choose ONE:
- 5 – 6 tbsp Thai Red Curry Paste (store bought, Maesri best) (Note 1)
- 1 quantity homemade Thai Red Curry Paste
Extras – only for jar curry paste (Note 2)
- 2 large garlic cloves , minced
- 2 tsp fresh ginger , finely grated
- 1 tbsp lemongrass paste or finely chopped fresh (Note 3)
Thai Red Curry
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil (or canola or peanut)
- 1 cup (250 ml) chicken broth/stock , low sodium
- 400 ml / 14 oz coconut milk (full fat!)
- 6 kaffir lime leaves (Note 4)
- 1 tbsp sugar (white, brown or palm)
- 2 tsp fish sauce , plus more to taste
- 350g / 12 oz chicken thighs (boneless and skinless), cut into 0.75 / 1/3″ thick slices (Note 5)
- 150g / 5 oz pumpkin or butternut squash, cut into 1.5cm / 3/5" cubes (~1 heaped cup)
- 120g / 4oz green beans , trimmed and cut into 5cm/2″ pieces
- 12 Thai basil leaves (Note 6)
Garnishes (optional) & serving:
- Fresh red chilli slices (small chilli – spicy, large = less spicy)
- Fresh coriander / cilantro leaves
- Steamed jasmine rice
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large heavy based skillet over medium high heat.
- Add curry paste and Extras (if using jar paste) and cook for about 2 minutes so it “dries out” (See video)
- Add chicken broth and stir to dissolve paste. Simmer rapidly for 3 minutes or until liquid reduces by half.
- Add coconut milk, lime leaves, sugar and fish sauce. Stir, then add chicken.
- Spread chicken out, bring to simmer, then turn heat down to medium. Simmer for about 8- 10 minutes or until Sauce reduces, the chicken is cooked and the sauce is almost at the thickness you want.
- Do a taste test. Add more fish sauce (or even shrimp paste) to add more saltiness, sugar for sweetness.
- Add pumpkin and beans, stir. Cook for 3 minutes or until pumpkin is just cooked through and Sauce is thickened – see video for Sauce thickness.
- Remove from heat. Stir through a handful of Thai basil leaves.
- Serve over jasmine rice, garnished with fresh red chilli slices and fresh coriander/cilantro leaves, if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Spiciness: Thai Red Curry is not supposed to be crazy spicy but it has a nice tingle to it.
Sauce thickness varies drastically between restaurants – at some it is almost watery, at others it is really thick and seems to be made with coconut cream. I like mine in between – a sauce that is pourable but with a gravy like consistency. I am not a fan of very sweet Red Curry, but if you are, just add more sugar.
Consistency: Thai red curry sauce doesn’t look completely smooth, it looks a bit split because of the oil and that’s the way it is supposed to be.
Stuff in it: There are no hard and fast rules about what goes into a Thai Red Curry. You’ll find Thai eggplant in curries at very authentic Thai restaurants but to be honest, I am not a huge fan of them – they are like tiny eggplants and kind of hard (also not easy to find in shops). I’d say that the two most common vegetables I’ve noticed are pumpkin and green beans or snake beans. While pumpkin may not sound “Thai”, don’t dismiss it, it is spectacular in red curry for both the texture, the sweetness and also because it soaks up the sauce. 8. Nutrition per serving, curry only.
Nutrition Information:
I adore Thai curries
See?
Life of Dozer
It’s lucky he’s so cute because he isn’t going to win any prizes in the spelling bee…. When he bonks his head on the door frame, it sounds hollow. I swear!
Hi Nagi,
I’m a big fan of you. Xoxo
Btw, Thank you for this recipe. I cooked this dish before, and it was a hit.
Quick question, if I were to cook the Red Duck Curry with Pineapple and Lychees, I assume I just use the same steps but replace the chicken with duck, then add the pineapple and lychees. Is that right? I’m planning to roast a whole duck before adding it to the curry. Thinking of serving it for Christmas this year. 🙂
– Analyn xo
Oh, my, that was good – will make the red paste next time, I imagine that will be a whole new ball game!!!
I’m so glad you loved it Alimak!!!
Thanks for this!
I stopped trying to make Thai food because I was always disappointed with the texture and flavour.
I have now cooked both your Green and Red curries and the texture and flavours were wonderful!
One question-how do you decrease the heat in the dishes? Do you just use more coconut milk and less paste? I made both these curries using Maesri paste and pimping it up as per your instructions. I am only asking for members of my family who have wimpy taste buds!
Hi Bernadette, I’m so glad you love these recipes – making it at home is so much more satisfying too! If you want to reduce the heat, I usually add less paste 🙂
This is was pretty yum! It tasted like what you’d get in a thai restaurant. Well done Nagi x
And so much better when you’ve made it yourself Mia 🙂
Thanks, Nagi! This is a fantastic recipe. I made this pretty much exactly as written; I used chinese eggplant instead of the squash and “lite” coconut milk rather than the full-fat variety.
I let it all simmer for an hour after the chicken went in – that’s one of the great things about chicken thigh meat is that you don’t need to worry about overcooking it. I added the veggies about five minutes from the end of the cook time and the basil and cilantro right at the end.
I love your tip about livening up the tinned red paste, I used galangal as well as the garlic, ginger and lemongrass as I had some left over from making Tom Yum soup. My local Thai market stocks Maesri so I used that for the first time, it’s really good, you’re right! The whole tin went in.
One tip – my wife doesn’t like fish sauce and can smell it in anything, she say it smells “funky” so I use anchovy paste as a substitute whenever it’s called for. You get the same salty/umami boost.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Steve!!
Thank you for this recipe, it turned out beautifully. I didn’t have Thai basil and used normal basil. For the homemade red curry paste; ran out of coriander root, used 6 fresh red chillies instead of dried chillies, threw in a bruised kaffir leaf with the vein ripped off, didn’t have zest so just added a small splash of lime juice, added a spoonful of Thai chilli paste in a jar for extra flavour and increased the shrimp paste by 1tsp. All that and still turned out pretty great!
OMG this is awesome and I mean awesome! My husband loved it so much I am making it again tonight. The best Thai red chicken curry by far. Thanks Nagi for sharing.
holy batman, this was good. I find that I’m spending a lot of my adult life trying to recreate the food I ate when I worked in restaurants during college, and OH MY GOD, this is spot on.
YASSS! So good to hear Raj!
Hi, just wondering if I can use sweet potato instead of pumpkin? would that still be OK?
Yes definitely MD!
Nagi, you are a genius! This was so good. We can’t easily get the type of red curry paste you recommended here in Canada so I used another one and this is better than the Thai place we normally go to. I swapped out prawns for the chicken and I realized I had to take them out before the sauce had simmered down because they cook so much faster than chicken. I’ll know for next time. Sooooo good.
Tried the recipe tonight and it turned out very well but but… the colour and the consistency just wasnt the same.. tho the curry paste made from scratch had the same orangish colour.. where did i go wrong?
Hi Cam,
Which is the curry paste that you bought. Planning to make it for 20 people. so no place for any mistake.
Thank you in advance
I’m so glad you loved it Cam!!
Absolutely delicious. Best ever
Thanks so much Vicki!
This recipe completely ruled!! Holy crap it was delicious. Best thai curry I have ever had! I think my husband of 35 years might want to renew our vows after that meal. I bought the brand of curry paste you recommended and next time maybe I’ll try making my own, though I’m not sure my heart could take it if it tasted BETTER. I forgot to buy squash (left my list at home and phone was dead lol) but substituted bell peppers and it still was awesome. Thank you so much. Now leave me alone while I go and pin all your recipes… 🙂
😂 Love this review Jill!! Thanks so much ❤️
I only discovered your site today and made the red curry tonight. It was delicious and my mum said “it is just like my favourite restaurant!” Thank you!
That’s the BEST compliment! N x
I live in Germany with no access to these ingredients but I’ll try using ginger and lime. I looked up the Maesri curry on Amazon and I can get 4 cans (4 oz each) for 39Euros. *sigh* That’s not gonna happen.
Do you want me to send you a few cans?
Oh no!!!!
Great recipe. Made it last week and it was great. I made today another portion of red curry paste for tomorrow 🙂 Thanks !
Woah that’s awesome to hear Jermain!
Any reason to not sear the thighs first?
Hi Darren, South East Asian cooking tends not to sear meat before adding into things like curries. It’s the same with Rendang, Green curry, Indian curries – It’s just the way it’s done in SEAsia 🙂
I honestly have made this Thai red curry many times and each time gets better. Thank you for the recipe!
That’s awesome Shelby!
Another recipe the family devoured like a bunch of pack animals! 😂.. Definitely going to make this again- soo tasty. Because of your brilliant easy to follow recipes I’m able to cook a lot better now. Thankyou 🙏🏼🙌🏼
Thanks so much Kyra, I’m so happy you loved it!
Made this and my bride of 50 years proclaimed it the best curry ever. one question. – the kaffir leaves I bought at my local asian market were the size of a thumb nail. yours looked much bigger. was I taken advantage of?
Hi Mike, I’ve never seen them that small! They were definitely kaffir leaves?
I called them first and specifically asked for kaffir lime leaves. When I arrived she took me to a freezer and gave me a small sandwich bag with the leaves. They definitely enhanced the dish, but I have no way of knowing if they were kaffir lime.
Hi Nagi,
Any tips for making this with beef fillet? Should I reduce the simmer time? Thanks!
Hi Nagi, this is a really good recipe. I use many of your recipes and I find all your tips and recommendations extremely useful, so a big thanks to you for that! I love reading about Dozer too!
Hi Lulu, I’d sear it first to get the colour then throw it back in the sauce last minute – N x